A wide variety of pillows and pads for supporting the head, neck and other parts of the body are well known. Traditionally, and typically, a pillow consists of an envelope filled with a soft material, such as down, spun fibers, foam rubber and the like. While these pillows are intended to provide comfort during rest/sleep, they tend to orient the head of a person so as to misalign the head, neck, and spine, with such misalignment often times resulting in physical manifestations of discomfort and/or pain. It is generally believed advantageous to provide a pillow having more/increased support in the neck area as a higher degree of neck support relative to head support helps to relieve pain and improve the rate of healing of certain injuries, owing to a reduction in mechanical stress on the muscles, tendons, nerve roots and other soft tissue structures in and around the spinal column.
In furtherance of providing different degrees of support for the head and neck, one approach has been to construct pillows using fillers consisting of synthetic fibers, feathers, or down of various densities and fullness, with special shapes formed in the pillow, usually by sewing the cover to form hollow sections or compartments. Such pillows however are typically designed with a top surface having a fixed shape or configuration, and as such, they are not adjustable to suit different users, especially well suited for treating different problems, nor do they allow the flow of filler material from areas on which high external pressures are imposed by the body to lower pressure areas which are more lightly loaded by different parts of the body.
A further known style of pillow intended to provide varying degrees of support for the head and neck utilize a foam rubber core of a select resilience, preformed to a desired shape and size. Such pillows of this style are also known to employ replaceable foam inserts or the like. Again, such designs lack a advantageous adaptability or versatility in furtherance of providing varying degrees of functionality.
Beyond those heretofore described, contourable pillows have also been designed so as to have air permeable and air impermeable envelopes, chambers, or compartments (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,766) as well as multiple, parallel chambers in fluid communication with each other (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,642,544 and 5,898,963). Lacking a structured media, or a substantial structured media, such designs and/or configurations fail to sufficiently maintain the sought after contour due to a general dynamic condition for the fluid of the fluid filled chambers.
As is also well known, contourable pillows have also been designed so as to have means to alter chamber configurations to suit individual needs (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,524). With such pillows, users must estimate the desired contour and then manually manipulate the fill material which, as in the fluid filled compartment styles, can be less than optimal when compared to structured pillow arrangements. An overview of further known styles of contourable pillows follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,514 (Wilhoit) is generally directed to an adjustable contour pillow wherein one or more chambers thereof may be selectively inflated, via a controller assembly integral with the pillow, so as to suit the particular needs of a given individual. Additional features contemplated include heating and/or massage means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,731 (O'Sullivan) is generally directed to a two-sided therapy pillow readily adapted so as to provide different degrees of support to a user's neck. Generally, two styles of pillow structure are disclosed, namely, those including one or more compartments, and those without compartments. It is contemplated that inserts may be selectively received in one or more of the several compartments to change the elevation and curvature of separate regions of the pillow, and/or to provide hot/cold therapy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,248 (O'Sullivan) is generally directed to a “health” pillow characterized by dual chambers. A soft filler material is included within a first chamber for supporting the head, whereas a firm neck support element is slidably movable within a second chamber for easy shifting thereof from one select position to another within the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,035 (Beier) is generally directed to an orthopedic pillow having dual compartments. A fibrous material is contained within a first compartment to provide a head cushion, with an elongate resilient block receivable within a second compartment of the pillow. Advantageously, the resilient block may be readily adapted via substitution of components or elements thereof in furtherance of achieving increased/decreased firmness therefore.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,560 (Christien) is generally directed to a pillow, adapted to provide yieldable support of controllable softness and thickness, characterized by a central air compartment surrounded by a continuous liquid compartment. Both the air and water chambers are critically noted as being continuous and coextensive.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,963 (Reddi) is generally directed to a liquid-filled laminate support member wherein an air compartment is interposed between opposingly paired liquid compartments.
In light of the foregoing, there remains a need to provide a contour or contourable pillow suitable for accommodation, correction, and maintenance of the proper physiology of the head, neck and spine. It is further believed advantageous to provide a cervical pillow characterized by a soft semi-structured outer jacket, and one or more internal structured, semi-structured and/or free flow elements.